How to Cash a Third-Party Cashier's Check

Federal regulations define cashier's checks as next-day availability items, which means that these checks are cash equivalents and not subject to holds. A third-party cashier's check involves a third party beyond the person negotiating it and the bank that cashes it. Due to high levels of fraud involving cashier's checks, banks do not allow nonaccount holders to cash third-party checks. However, you can usually cash a third-party cashier's check at your own bank as long as the amount of the check does not exceed your average account balance.

Step

Contact your bank, and find out whether you can cash a third-party check by yourself. Some banks require the original check payee to go with you to the bank when you cash the item. People who do not have bank accounts often cash checks against friends' accounts in order to avoid check-cashing fees.

Step

Tell the bank representative the dollar amount of the check, and find out if you can cash it based upon your account relationship. Additionally, if you have a check in excess of $5,000, your bank may require advance notice because banks do not normally keep excess cash on hand to cover large-dollar checks. Therefore, if necessary, ask the bank to order the funds to cash your check and agree to a time to cash it.

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Step

Go to the bank. If the bank required the check payee to go with you to cash the check, ask the payee to endorse the check in front of the teller. If the payee did not go with you to the bank, then you must have the payee endorse the check before you go. This involves the payee signing the check, writing "pay to the order of" and then printing your name.

Step

Sign your name under the payee's endorsement, and hand it to the teller along with a form of government-issued identification. If the payee went with you to the bank, then he must also present a form of government-issued ID to the teller. Count the money before you leave the bank.